Treadmill

ABSTRACT

A treadmill includes a frame unit and a roller unit. The frame unit has a front end portion and a rear end portion that is opposite to the front end portion. The roller unit includes a plurality of spaced apart rollers and a plurality of linkage members. The rollers are mounted rotatably between the front end portion and the rear end portion, each of the rollers having a roller wheel. Each of the linkage members links a corresponding adjacent pair of the rollers to drive synchronized rotation of each of the rollers.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application claims priority of Taiwanese Patent Application No.106134499, filed on Oct. 6, 2017.

FIELD

The disclosure relates to a type of exercise equipment, and moreparticularly to a treadmill.

BACKGROUND

A treadmill provides a moving platform for a user to walk at a givenmovement speed while staying at the same place, and may also passivelyresist user motion for workout purpose. A conventional treadmilldisclosed in Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. 128972 includes aplurality of spaced-apart rollers mounted rotatably between two ends ofthe treadmill. The conventional treadmill allows a user to walk thereonand to drive rotation of each of the rollers. Another conventionaltreadmill disclosed in Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. M401455includes a plurality of rollers mounted on a hollow frame and operableto support a conveyor belt for rotation.

Although both the abovementioned treadmills are capable of achievingintended purpose as a moving platform, the conventional treadmilldisclosed in Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. 128972 lacks a conveyorbelt, such that only the rollers that are stepped on would rotate.Consequently, adjacent rollers would have different rotational speed,making it easier for the user to lose control of the movement speed onthe treadmill and potentially slip.

However, even with the addition of a conveyer belt in the treadmill asdisclosed in Taiwanese Utility Model Patent No. M401455, the conveyerbelt is only able to transmit walking movement of the user into rotationof the rollers that are in direct frictional contact with the conveyorbelt, which are limited to those that are right underneath the user'sfeet. As such, the other rollers not in direct frictional contact do notgain as much rotational speed from the conveyer belt, resulting indifferent rotational speed between the rollers, which may easily pulland damage the conveyer belt.

Besides the inability to control movement speed on the treadmill, theabovementioned prior arts also lack the capability to adjust workoutintensity for the user.

SUMMARY

Therefore, an object of the disclosure is to provide a treadmill thatcan alleviate at least one of the drawbacks of the prior art.

According to the disclosure, the treadmill includes a frame unit and aroller unit. The frame unit has a front end portion and a rear endportion that is opposite to the front end portion. The roller unitincludes a plurality of spaced apart rollers and a plurality of linkagemembers. The rollers are mounted rotatably between the front end portionand the rear end portion, each of the rollers having a roller wheel.Each of the linkage members links a corresponding adjacent pair of therollers to drive synchronized rotation of each of the rollers.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Other features and advantages of the disclosure will become apparent inthe following detailed description of the embodiments with reference tothe accompanying drawings, of which:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a first embodiment of a treadmillaccording to the disclosure;

FIG. 2 is an exploded perspective view of the first embodiment;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary partly exploded perspective view of a rollerunit of the first embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a sectional side view of the first embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken along line V-V of FIG. 4;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged fragmentary view of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is an exploded perspective view of a second embodiment of thetreadmill according to the disclosure; and

FIG. 8 is a sectional side view of the second embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Before the disclosure is described in greater detail, it should be notedthat where considered appropriate, reference numerals or terminalportions of reference numerals have been repeated among the figures toindicate corresponding or analogous elements, which may optionally havesimilar characteristics.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 2 and 4, the first embodiment of the treadmillaccording to the disclosure includes a frame unit 10, a roller unit 20,and a damping unit 40.

The frame unit 10 includes a base frame 11 that has two spaced-apartside frame boards 113. The side frame boards 113 cooperatively have afront end portion 111, and a rear end portion 112 that is opposite tothe front end portion 111, and a plurality of spaced-apart roller slots114 formed between the front end portion 111 and the rear end portion112. The base frame 11 further includes a plurality of shafts 12 thatextend in an axial direction (L) and are mounted rotatably to the baseframe 11, and a handle frame 13 mounted to the base frame 11.

The roller unit 20 includes a plurality of spaced-apart rollers 21 and aplurality of linkage members 22. The rollers 21 are mounted rotatablybetween the front end portion 111 and the rear end portion 112 of theframe unit 10. Each of the rollers 21 extends in the axial direction(L), and has a cylinder body 211 that has two opposite ends and a rollerwheel 212 that is mounted to one of the ends of the cylinder body 211.In addition, the roller wheel 212 of each of the rollers 21 is proximateto the roller wheels 212 of a corresponding adjacent pair of the rollers21. In this embodiment, as shown in FIGS. 3 and 6, the cylindrical body211 of each of the rollers 21 has two coupling members 214 that engagerespectively a corresponding pair of the roller slots 114 that arealigned with each other in the axial direction (L). The roller wheel 212of each of the rollers 21 has a plurality of annular positioning grooves213 that are spaced apart in the axial direction (L). As shown in FIGS.5 and 6, each of the linkage members 22 is configured as a toothed beltthat is trained on the roller wheel 212 of a corresponding adjacent pairof the rollers 21, so as to link the corresponding adjacent pair of therollers 21 to drive synchronized rotation of each of the rollers 21.

The damping unit 40 includes a mounting seat 41 that is mounted to thefront end portion 111 of the frame unit 10, a damping wheel 42 that ismounted rotatably to the mounting seat 41, a transmission member 43 thatinterconnects the damping wheel 42 and the roller wheel 212 of one ofthe rollers 21, a retarding member 44 that is disposed on the mountingseat 41 for creating frictional contact with the damping wheel 42, andan adjusting member 45 that is connected to the retarding member 44.

Referring to FIGS. 1, 4, 5 and 6, the rollers 21 of the roller unit 20cooperatively define a concave top surface 210 for supporting the user.Because the roller wheels 212 of each of the corresponding adjacentpairs of the rollers 21 are linked by a corresponding one of the linkagemembers 22, when the user walks on the top surface 210 to driverotational movement of one or more of the rollers 21, all other rollers21 would be synchronized to rotate as well. All of the rollers 21 areforced to maintain the same rotational speed, whether or not the userwalks fast or slowly thereon.

In addition, for the purpose of exercising, the adjusting member 45 isoperable to drive the retarding member 44 to be proximate to or distantfrom the damping wheel 42, thereby adjusting friction between theretarding member 44 and the damping wheel 42. As the transmission member43 interconnects the damping wheel 42 and one of the rollers 21,adjustment to the retarding member 44 directly adjust rotational dampingof the rollers 21 as well, allowing the user to exercise with thetreadmill under different workout intensity.

Referring to FIGS. 7 and 8, the second embodiment of the treadmill ofthe disclosure is similar to that of the first disclosure, with anaddition of a conveyer belt 30. The conveyor belt 30 is mounted on thebase frame 11 of the frame unit 10 and surrounds the roller unit 20. Theconveyer belt 30 is supported by the shafts 12 and the roller unit 20,and is driven by the roller unit 20 to rotate relative to the frame unit10. Given that the rollers 21 are operable to maintain synchronizedrotation due to the linking of linkage members 22, the conveyer belt 30is able to effectively transmit walking movement of the user intorotation of the rollers 21 that are in direct frictional contact withthe conveyor belt 30, as well as the rollers 21 that are not. Theconveyer belt 30 is also able to rotate smoothly without wearing fromthe rollers 21. As such, the second embodiment has the same advantage asthose of the first embodiment.

In the description above, for the purposes of explanation, numerousspecific details have been set forth in order to provide a thoroughunderstanding of the embodiments. It will be apparent, however, to oneskilled in the art, that one or more other embodiments may be practicedwithout some of these specific details. It should also be appreciatedthat reference throughout this specification to “one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” an embodiment with an indication of an ordinal number andso forth means that a particular feature, structure, or characteristicmay be included in the practice of the disclosure. It should be furtherappreciated that in the description, various features are sometimesgrouped together in a single embodiment, figure, or description thereoffor the purpose of streamlining the disclosure and aiding in theunderstanding of various inventive aspects.

While the disclosure has been described in connection with what areconsidered the exemplary embodiments, it is understood that thisdisclosure is not limited to the disclosed embodiments but is intendedto cover various arrangements included within the spirit and scope ofthe broadest interpretation so as to encompass all such modificationsand equivalent arrangements.

What is claimed is:
 1. A treadmill comprising: a frame unit having afront end portion and a rear end portion that is opposite to said frontend portion; and a roller unit including a plurality of spaced-apartrollers that are mounted rotatably between said front end portion andsaid rear end portion, each of said rollers having a roller wheel, and aplurality of linkage members, each of said linkage members linking acorresponding adjacent pair of said rollers to drive synchronizedrotation of each of said rollers.
 2. The treadmill as claimed in claim1, further includes a damping unit including a mounting seat that ismounted to said front end portion of said frame unit, a damping wheelthat is mounted rotatably to said mounting seat, and a transmissionmember that interconnects said damping wheel and one of said rollers. 3.The treadmill as claimed in claim 2, wherein said damping unit furtherincludes: a retarding member disposed for creating frictional contactwith said damping wheel; and an adjusting member connected to saidretarding member, and operable for driving said retarding member to beproximate to or distant from said damping wheel, thereby adjustingfriction between said retarding member and said damping wheel.
 4. Thetreadmill as claimed in claim 1, wherein each of said rollers of saidroller unit extends in an axial direction, said roller wheel of each ofsaid rollers having a plurality of annular positioning grooves that arespaced apart in the axial direction, each of said linkage members beingconfigured as a toothed belt that is trained on said roller wheels ofthe corresponding adjacent pair of said rollers.
 5. The treadmill asclaimed in claim 1, further includes a conveyer belt that is mounted onsaid frame unit, that is supported by said roller unit, and that isdriven rotatably by said roller unit.
 6. The treadmill as claimed inclaim 5, wherein said frame unit further includes a base frame, aplurality of shafts extending in the axial direction and mountedrotatably to said base frame, and a handle frame mounted on said baseframe, said base frame having said front end portion and said rear endportion, said roller unit and said shafts cooperatively support saidconveyor belt.